


Silver & Gold

by fungumunguss



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Comfort/Angst, F/M, Secret Identity, Unspeakables
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-07
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2018-03-16 17:09:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3496265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fungumunguss/pseuds/fungumunguss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After an unusual accident, Draco Malfoy awakes to discover his wand glowing blue and a foreboding stranger in a long black cloak with the hood covering his face to greet him. The stranger whisks Draco away unveiling that he has been chosen by the oldest of magic to serve as an Unspeakable. He is given a number as his identity and once he is deemed ready he goes on missions to defeat the darkness that rises. Soon he is given a partner. As they work together to defeat the evil their identities are unknown to each other until his partner is hit and her hood falls off, revealing herself to be none other than Hermione Granger herself who is supposed to be dead. In shock Draco's own hood falls off revealing who he is. The villain escapes and the pair have to go into hiding so their superior does not figure out that they know who the other is. In hiding they decide to work together to stop the evil from destroying the wizarding world. Can they defeat the darkness that rises and overcome their mutual hatred? Or will they succumb to the bubbling anger that lies just beneath their surfaces?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Loss of Light

_Chapter One_

_Loss of Light_

_“The Tower trembles; the worlds shudder in their courses. The rose feels a chill, as of winter.”_

_― Stephen King, UR_

_Song: Things We Lost in the Fire ~ Bastille_

 

Diagon Alley was quiet, with only the wind howling through the cobblestone streets and the rain hitting the roofs of the stores hard. A storm raged on through the little town as the lamps flickered, trying to keep their lights afloat.

Down the alley lay an apothecary. It was owned by the Ministry, and was created to design new potions for St. Mungo’s to helping the Aurors.

The lights flickered inside of the laboratory, as a team of professional were hard at work, experimenting on an incredible toxic potion.

“M’lady, how is it coming?”

“Just fine Mason. Can you pass me the newt eyes?”

“Here you go.”

“Thank you.”

The storm continued to bang against the windows of the apothecary and the assistant recoiled against the thunder.

“Quite a storm we’re having isn’t it?”

“I suppose.”

Mason walked over to his master’s side, peering over their shoulder to look at the cauldron with bubbling gold liquid and a steam of bronze. The smoke rose into the air, whispering and caressing his face. His eyes closed shut blissfully because there he had never felt so content in his life. Strange, how one whiff of a toxin can do that to him.

“Do not breathe it in Mason. It could kill you. “

“Of course. If I may ask…What exactly is this potion for m’lady?”

“That my dear Mason is classified. I’m afraid I can’t tell you. Hand me those figs.”

Mason grabbed the bowl of the dried fruit and handed it to his master who dumped the bowl into the cauldron. She grinned and turned to look at him, her eyes sparkling.

“There. Now we wait.”

Mason nodded and proceeded over to the tea cart to pour some tea for himself and his master. With a cup of earl grey in his hand he handed it to his dominant and then looked over the recipe for the potion. He frowned, as something didn’t quite add up on the sheet.

“M’lady…I think you put in too my devil’s snare…”

“Impossible.”

The master took the sheet from Mason and scanned it, her brows furrowing.

“Oh no.”

The pair turned their heads to the cauldron only to see it begin to bubble and release a terrible smell. The two began to cough and ran for the door. The wind picked up, smashing against the glass and walls, shaking the building to its foundation. Mason stumbled as his master tripped her body hitting the ground hard.

“M’LADY!”

She groaned and pushed herself up, but collapsed as doing so. The cauldron then exploded and a bright light of gold burst forth as fire spewed out, burning everything it touched in its path. Mason watched on in horror as the fire quickly licked up his master, her bones and all. He stood in shock at the scene, unable to move or speak.

The rain soon drowned the remaining flames out quickly as the building finally burned down to the ground in an instant. Residents in the alley heard the loud cracks of beams falling apart and rushed out to see the commotion.

Gasps and screams echoed along the alley, bouncing off of walls and into the sewers. The rain came down hard on the remains of the potions lab, leaving it incredibly muddy and messy. Wizards rushed towards the burning building, recognizing it as the Ministry’s and hoped to offer aid.

Aurors soon apparated into the alley, a red code being sent out throughout the Ministry and the towns nearby. There were no signs of foul play as they began to scan the area, taking a look at the disaster that had struck.

All that remained was wet ash and soaked wood. Beams lay on the ground, dirty, and none other than Harry Potter, one of the Aurors, began searching through the rubble frantically, trying to find something resembling that of a bookworm.

“Hermione! HERMIONE!”

Ron joined him, the pair throwing away broken pieces of stone, getting soaked to the bone in the process. They became filthy fast, their faces stained black and brown. Harry’s glasses were askew on his face, and Ron’s hair was barely red.

As they moved through the ashes, Ron noticed a locket lying on the ground, right beside a big pile of remains. He had to hold back bile, as he noticed the locket was the one he gave to Hermione after they graduated Hogwarts. With tears streaming down his face he opened it gently and muffled a cry as he saw their picture, the one Hermione had taken with her muggle camera of them, smiling into what she called the lenses.

“Ron…did you find her?”

The ginger merely burst into tears and collapsed onto the ground, and Harry kneeled over and looked at the remains of someone as they lay dirty in the ash.

“No…it can’t be.”

It was. Hermione Granger was dead. Once and for all.

And Mason stood by and watched it all in absolute horror. How could something so simple have gone so incredibly wrong?

_… A Few Days Later…_

 

Draco Malfoy stood at the large glass window which overlooked the bright lights of Wizarding London. He wore nothing but black, his platinum blonde hair styled the same since he was in seventh year at Hogwarts and his grey eyes as void of emotion as ever.

It was raining again. In fact it had been for the past couple of days. Draco knew London was a terrible city for weather, but in his opinion, this much rain was ridiculous. Still, the weather seemed appropriate due to the wizarding world’s solemn event.

The Slytherin of course wasn’t invited. He had never been a fan of the Golden Trio and had worked adamantly against them throughout all of Hogwarts. He was a jealous bastard then, not for the glory but for their friendship, hell he was jealous of it, but as he looked out the foggy window he realize that he was glad not to have anyone close to him for it would be too painful to watch them go. He thanked Merlin briefly for the thought. He brought his attention back to the papers before him. Scratchy pieces covered in black splotches and smooth ink. He traced the fine tips of the page, and leaned back in his chair, taking in his office which was covered in Malfoy antiques from the furniture to the building itself. He really did get the best in his father’s will.

Spoiled little brat he was indeed.

But Draco could now say with pride that he knew what it was to work hard. He had brought Malfoy Enterprises out of the dirt and mud his father had placed it in during Voldemort’s reign of terror and now the company was well established and many people bought products from its many shops it owned. Granted, the Malfoy name wasn’t necessarily involved in the name of the shops, but their logo was splattered on their items.

Essentially, it was enough to know that Malfoy Enterprises wasn’t as shady as it once had been. Not that it mattered, because today was one of a somber occasion.

It was the funeral of the war hero, the wizarding world’s golden girl, Hermione Granger. It had come to a shock to all wizards and witches everywhere seeing as Granger was always the responsible one in Hogwarts and was the practical one too. How the hell was she the one who ended up dead at such a young age?

Draco still couldn’t comprehend the fact that Granger had died in a potions accident as he got up and moved back to peer out the large window. She always seemed so careful during school. It didn’t make sense how she could miss something so bloody simple.

The blonde shook the thoughts away and turned towards the accounts that lay on his bureau once again. With one last glance out the window, the CEO sat in his desk and began going over his work for the day.

 

_…A Few Hours Later…_

 

A knock erupted on Draco’s office door, causing the CEO to look up.

“Come in.”

The oak doors opened to reveal Blaise Zabini, Draco’s financial manager.

“Blaise.”

“Hey Drake.””

“What do you need?”

“You wanted me to let you know when they funeral would come on.”

“Oh right. I forgot about that. You can turn on the radio.”

Blaise nodded and walked over to the old fashioned box. The blonde had decided to invest into muggle technologies since it was a market that hadn’t been brought into the wizarding world yet and would make a ridiculously good profit for the company.  The radio crackled and popped until the static cleared allowing a grave voice to flow through.

None other than Pansy Parkinson was reporting on the funeral which caused Blaise and Draco to share a skeptical glance. How odd that a former enemy would report a worldwide event for someone who she loathed.

“Never knew Pans was with the Daily Prophet Radio.” spoke the blonde, glancing at the electrical box.

“Yeah, it’s her new job.”

“Go figure.”

The two men remained silent as her voice disappeared and the Minister of Magic for London began to speak.

_“It is with great sadness that we stand here today, suffering a loss so great. A hero has died, aiding the light as she had always done from a young age._

_Hermione Granger, War hero, Brightest Witch of her age, was a brave woman, a leader against the darkness. She was and is a true hero. She was someone with greatness in them. She will be missed._

_Now if Harry Potter could come say a few words._

Silence rang through the air as the two men listened in on the radio, waiting to hear The Boy Who Lived say iconic things about the Wizarding world’s golden girl.

_“The war would not have been won if not for Hermione. She was the logic behind our trio, the one who made sure we didn’t truly go running into the unknown blind. She kept a steady head on her shoulders, and made sure we had one on ours.”_

_“She was the kind of woman who pushed herself past her limits, who insisted that there was more to her than just a brain. She proved that to myself and Ron over and over again.”_

_“But she wasn’t just a friend, she was family. She was my sister, a child who shared a bond with me that no one else had. Hermione didn’t grow up in the wizarding world and neither did I and because of that we understood each other better than most. It's one of the many things I will miss most about her.”_

_“There were moments years ago when it was just us two, and we learned to rely on each other more.  Our bond grew and I knew that whatever happened I would protect her at all costs. But twice I have failed.”_

_“First, her death. I wish I was here to protect her, prevent her from the explosion so she could still be alive to marry and have kids and do the things she always dreamed of doing.”_

_“The second is the scar that was branded her arm after she suffered an unforgivable curse.”_

Draco froze with his elbows on his desk and his hands in a fist that rested against his lips. His knuckles began to turn white as his nails were digging into his skin. Blaise noticed and gave him a look. The blonde simply turned his chair around to face the window.

Draco regretted nothing more than not intervening back at Malfoy Manor but what was he to do? Voldemort had threatened his family and he was afraid, afraid of what the mad man could do. He shut his eyes as the memory came up fresh, like a scar burning into his head. Potter’s words echoed around him as a haunting reminder of what he failed to do.

_“We were captured by the Death Eaters and Hermione, being a muggleborn, was dragged up to the ballroom in the manor we were trapped in, and tortured viciously with the cruciatus curse.”_

_“Ron screamed in agony for her but all we could her were her own screams and cries. She was in pain and we couldn’t get to her. In that moment, I had never felt so helpless. My sister was dying and I couldn’t do anything.”_

_“Eventually we managed to escape but Hermione did not leave unscathed. Bellatrix Lestrange, the one who had tortured her, had carved into her skin the word mudblood, so Hermione would be permanently reminded of the fact that she was a muggleborn.”_

_"There is nothing more I wish I could have taken away from her. But ever being true to herself, Hermione took it in stride saying that it was simply a word that held no meaning and should be thought as such. She always would tell me that our scars do not define us, but show us who we used to be. A remnant of our past._

Draco winced in pain as his arm suddenly flared up in heat to which he slapped his hand down on the spot, trying to hold in the pain. His dark mark had scarred terribly over the past two years since graduation as Draco had tried to remove it from his skin by burning it off but with no avail. He flexed his hand and grunted as he felt that his skin was beginning to scorch off.

Soon his whole body was tense and Potter’s words could no longer be heard as the agony became too great. Draco yelled in agony, and rolled off his chair onto the floor, grasping his arm tighter in a hope to sustain or stop the flare of heat that coursed through his mark.

Blaise’s eyes grew wide as he heard the loud crash and he dashed to his friend’s side.

“Draco? What the hell?!”

“Blaise….arm…burns…” the blonde barely grunted it out.

It was so faint that Blaise had to lean over to Draco’s mouth to get it. He looked to the dark mark which seems to be turning from black to red.

“Merlin Drake…we’ve got to get you to St. Mungos.”

Blaise ran to the fireplace and threw in some floo powder, summoning a fire call to St. Mungo’s stat.

“Hello, this is St. Mungo’s how can I help you?”

“My friend’s scar is acting up. He needs medical attention now.”

The face in the fire grew wide eyed as she noticed who exactly was a writhing in pain on the floor.

“Of course. Right away. Floo in and we’ll be ready.”

Blaise nodded and ended the call. He ran to Draco and put him in a fireman’s carry. From there the Italian grabbed some more floo powder and stepped inside the fireplace. 

“ST.MUNGO’S” he shouted and the flames turned green as soon as the floo powder hit.

In a whirlwind of motion the pair landed in the lobby of St. Mungo’s. Healers rushed towards Malfoy taking him out of Blaise’s arms and putting him on a bed which they rushed to emergency. The Italian watched as his friend disappeared in white halls, doors swinging behind him.

“Mr. Zabini?”

Blaise turned around to face none other than Ginny Weasley.

“Weasley.”

“Blaise right?”

“Yes.”

“Call me Ginny. I’m the head healer here for Dark Art injuries. Can you tell me what happened? It’s fairly unusual for something so old to be flaring up so drastically.”

“How’d you know it was Draco’s mark?”

“The woman who answered you called noticed it and notified me. Now can you tell me what happened? How did his dark mark become so scarred? It shouldn’t have done that either.”

Blaise sighed and motioned for the redhead to follow him to one of the lobby chairs. They sat down and Ginny began to write what Blaise began to say.

“I don’t know much. Drake had tried burning it off as soon as we got out of Hogwarts. It left the nasty scarring you saw on his arm and he’s covered it up ever since. Nothing worked on it. Other than that it hasn’t acted up since. Not till now anyway.”

“What were you two doing?”

“We were listening to the funeral on the radio. Why aren’t you there?”

“I had to be here. Hermione wouldn’t have liked it if I left my duty of helping others to mourn for her.”

“Bloody golden trio. Always doing the noble thing.”

“Only Hermione ever really did that. Her and her golden heart.” Ginny spoke faintly as her eyes misted but no tears fell.

 

_… A Few Months Later…_

 

The healers flew in and out of Draco’s room over the months as he lay unconscious on the bed. He was administered several potions but none seemed to have any effect. Ginny studied his charts and his vitals were normal every time. She sighed and her eyes went over to his wand which lay on the nightstand beside his bed. It laid there unused almost lonely as if it no being in Malfoy’s hand was some kind of catastrophe. The ginger shook her head. Her frustration over the blonde’s case was getting to her.

She checked his vitals one more time and sighed. It didn’t make any sense why he hadn’t woken up. With a click of her tongue she left the room, turning off the lights and shutting the door quietly behind her.

The redhead carried the clipboard with her to where Blaise sat. She sat herself down beside him and he kept looking at the floor. The past months had been hard on him too, seeing as he had come to the hospital at least three times a week if not more. It surprised Ginny how loyal he was to the ferret even though they had never seemed to be close throughout Hogwarts. She figured they both matured since then. Besides, Blaise didn’t strike her as the moody type like Malfoy.

“So what’s going on?”

“We don’t know. His vitals are normal; according to our diagnostic spells he’s perfectly healthy. We did notice a spike in the activity of his mark but it was just a jump in his pulse when we really dug into it. We know he was in great pain, we saw him after all. We just have no idea what it is. We’ve never had a case like this. I’m sorry Blaise but I can’t tell you anything because I don’t know.”

“So what’s going to happen now?”

Ginny sighed and looked across at the shut door of Malfoy’s room.

“We’ll keep him as long as it takes. Come by and see how he is in the morning. You’re welcome to visit the cafeteria for something to eat too. You look like a starved puppy.”

Blaise sighed and pursed his lips.

“I’ll be back in the morning if that’s alright. No point in staying longer today if nothing’s going to happen.”

Ginny only nodded and got up leaving his side to go clock out for the night and head home to her house. Blaise meanwhile slowly got up and left the hospital, apparating back to his flat. Meanwhile in the dark and silent room, no one noticed Draco’s wand on the nightstand.

Its tip had started to glow blue and the windows began to frost over. 

…

 


	2. A New Future

_Chapter 2_

_A New Future_

_“Beginnings could happen more than once or in different ways. You could think you were starting something afresh, when actually what you were doing was carrying on as before. He had faced his shortcomings and overcome them and so the real business of walking was happening only now.”_

_― Rachel Joyce, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry_

_Song: Fresh Start Fever~ You Me At Six_

 

In all of Draco’s life, never once had he’d been in a state limbo as he liked to refer to his inability to move. He felt like he was floating, merely drifting on by as all the things around him lay still. He felt cold but could not shiver making him wonder if he was just imagining the frozen sensation. He tried to twitch his fingers and then his toes but neither responded merely laying silent and stubbornly.

He shouldn’t be surprised really, he himself was a stubborn man and therefore why shouldn’t his body be that way? But then again it had always been perfectly obedient till now.

It was then that he heard a faint whisper. It was incredibly quiet that the blonde could barely catch it. He blamed it on his state that his Slytherin abilities were lacking. He strained his ear, hoping to hear what was being spoken because he bloody well knew someone was speaking. He could feel their presence.

His ears twitched then. His eyes remained closed but with that one little movement the sound in the room intensified. It was then that he heard the words uttered loud and clear and Draco wondered why he hadn’t heard them earlier.

_“Surge Inenarrabili”_

The language he spoke was that of the dead one, Latin. Draco himself knew only the oldest of spells were written in Latin as it is one of the boulders used to build the vast spells cast today. He didn’t know what it meant though as his Latin was quite rusty considering he gave up learning it when his father died.

As the words were spoken heat shot through the blonde’s body and he realized he could move again. He fluttered his eyelids open but no light burst forth. The room was dark with a faint coldness that still lingered. He slowly moved to sit up, but due to the darkness he could not see where he was.

As his eyes adjusted to the blackness, he noticed faintly a cloaked figure standing near what he believed to be a door. He couldn’t see the figure’s face for the hood fell far down covering it completely.

“You have awoken.”

The voice that came was deep and Draco looked on with one eyebrow raised, curious as to what was going on.

“Do not tell me your name for it is ideal that our identities remain secret. It is why the room is dark. I cannot look upon you to discover who you are.”

The blonde was baffled as he looked towards the stranger. He hadn’t managed to utter a single word and remained on the bed more confused than ever. The only thing he figured out was that he must be at St. Mungo’s since the bed was scratchy instead of the usual luxurious sheets he had at home.

“What exactly is going on?”

“Look to your wand. What do you see?”

Draco turned his head to the nightstand and gasped as his wand was glowing an eerily bright blue. He reached over to pick it up and once it connected with his hand he felt a surge of energy pulse into his body causing him to pass out once more.

…

Once Draco awoke he realized he was still in the same bed with the stranger looming over him.

“Bloody hell mate get away!”

 The blonde pushed the cloaked man away and as he did he fell off the bed, landing hard on the marble floor.

“Bloody fucking hell.”

“It seems you’re training will help you greatly. You are quite uncoordinated.”

That ruffled Draco’s feathers as he hated to be insulted. He was one of the most beautiful bachelors existing today, courtesy of Witch Weekly.

“As if. I’m the utmost picture of perfection. There is nothing wrong with me. Unlike you looming over an innocent bystander scaring the fuck out of them. Who do you think you are exactly? My superior?”

“Precisely.”

That left the blonde momentarily speechless as he stood up. It was still dark as hell, not nearly as cold, and all Draco could see was the outline of the man before him. The blonde was also quite dishevelled with the idea that another man was his boss. Good grief he _practically_ owned half the Wizarding world. He was the one in charge not some…cloaked freak.

“No you’re not.”

“You’ve been chosen and I am to impart you for what you are to do.”

The Slytherin stood with his arms crossed staring incredulously at the man before him. His eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms, standing defiantly.

“What?”

“You have been chosen by the oldest of magic to become one of the silent warriors.”

“The silent who?”

“An Unspeakable.”

Draco sputtered as his eyes grew wide. He’d heard of Unspeakables before but they were only a myth. No one really believed in them seeing as it was nearly impossible for a wizard or witch to do all what was said Unspeakables could do. No one had ever been able to live up to the myth and therefore it was only a legend.

“Unspeakables aren’t real. It’s just a story told to children when they’re young.”

In that moment Draco saw a flash of bronze followed by a green light directed at him. His eyes flashed and he immediately ducked, the spell blasting the wall behind him. He stared at the burnt make and then turned his eyes to the stranger. He swore he could sense a smirk on the man’s face but it was too dark to tell.

“Look in the mirror.”

The blonde sent a quizzical look to the cloaked figure but turned around to see a mirror had replaced the burnt mark on the wall, he approached it and gasped.

His eyes were the colour of molten silver and they glowed incredibly bright. So bright that as he looked around the room seemed to light up. He turned back to the mirror and watched as the colour faded back to its original smoky grey.

“No ordinary wizard can dodge an Unforgivable curse nor do their eyes serve as personal lights to guide them on dark paths. You cannot deny what you have seen.”

The man had a point. Draco faced the stranger once again; the room back to its normal blackness.

“What’s happened to me?”

“You have been chosen to serve your world in secret. Aurors cannot do what you will be able to do. This is a new future for you. Come, there is much you need to learn and we cannot stay here.”

“Fine. Let’s go then.”

“You cannot leave like that. Use your wand, conjure yourself a cloak and proper clothes.”

The Slytherin nodded and grasped his wand feeling that familiar surge of energy again though not as prominent as before. He waved it and transfigured his clothes adding a cloak to the process. He threw on the hood making sure it covered all of his face.

“Ready.”

“Good. Let us take our leave then.”

…

The pair swiftly exited the room and Draco was momentarily blinded by the bright lights of the St. Mungo’s halls.

“This way.”

The blonde glanced around the foyer, noticing it was empty without even a healer near the welcoming desk. He figured it was best not to question their luck as they made their way silently down the hall. Their footsteps made no sound and they moved quickly through the silence. Soon they exited St. Mungo’s into an alleyway and the hooded man turned to face the blonde.

“I am going to put a symbol into your mind. Apparate there.”

“Are you insane? Apparition doesn’t work like that! I can’t just go to a place I’ve never been to on a symbol!”

Draco’s words were lost on the stranger as he disparted on the spot. The moment he was gone, an image appeared into the blonde’s head. It was a black diamond with line dividing it in half. Dark blue spots decorated each corner and illuminated the diamond with a faint blue glow.

The Slytherin had no idea where he was to go because all he had to go on was a _symbol_. Out of nowhere a word flashed threw his mind and he wondered if maybe that was where he was supposed to go. He shrugged figuring he had nothing better to do and apparated away.

…

Meanwhile back at St. Mungo’s Ginny had arrived to Malfoy’s room only to discover it to be slightly chilled and empty. She became worried but pushed it down. It was quite possible Malfoy had woken up in the night and left but then again someone should have been there to report it.

The panic came back.

The redhead rushed out of the room and headed straight to the front desk.

“Marie?”

“Yes Healer Weasley?”

“Where the hell is patient 6892?”

“He should be in his room Healer Weasley.”

“Well guess what? He’s not. Call the aurors. I want to figure out where the hell my patient is and I want to figure out now.”

“Yes. Of course.”

Ginny dashed away from the desk while grabbing Malfoy’s file. She quickly walked through the halls to her office. Once there she grabbed some floo powder and called Blaise.

“Ginny? Why are you calling me? Is Draco awake?”

“Not quite. Blaise I hate to tell you this but…Malfoy’s missing.”

“What?!”

“Look whatever nurse was on duty didn’t see him disappear. I’ve got the aurors coming so don’t worry. I’m sure Harry and Ron will figure it out. I’d just thought you’d like to know.”

“Bloody hell. Move aside Ginny I’m coming through.”

Blaise’s head disappeared and soon his whole body emerged from the fireplace. Ginny’s expression was worried but she hid it as he soon as Blaise faced her. Last thing he need was to know she was freaked.

“C’mon. Let’s go to his room and check it out. There may be a clue.”

Ginny simply nodded and followed the Italian out of her office to Malfoy’s room. She hoped they found something.

…

Draco appeared in a dimly lit stone room. For a moment he thought he was back at Hogwarts until he realize the stone was red not gray. Torches illuminated the walls with his shadow flickering every once in a while. He turned around to notice a massive wooden door that lay solemnly before him. As he tentatively approached it, it burst forth and many cloaked figures entered into the room and surrounded the Slytherin.

“Number 6892 welcome. It is good to see that you made it.”

Draco looked around him and shook his head soon directing his eyes to the figure who spoke.

“What in the blazes is going on? How in Merlin’s name did I end up here?”

“6892 I understand you have many questions but first let me introduce you to your brethren. These are all the Unspeakables who reside here when are not on duty. You will eventually learn who they are by their numbers. That is you identity now.” The cloaked man turned to face everyone else in the room. “You may take your leave now.”

The crowd dispersed and left the room with only the stranger left.

“Who are you?”

“I am 2482, current superior of the Unspeakables. Come I must show you to your quarters.”

2482 turned around and Draco reluctantly followed. They went through the wooden door and walked for what seemed like forever to the blonde. The halls were a crimson colour as Draco peered closer to it. Faint outlines that looked like arches marked the walls as well and Draco wondered if they meant something or if they were just a design. With all that had just occurred he wouldn’t be surprised if it was the former.

His curiosity was sedated when they stopped before one of the arches on the wall.

“Press your palm against the middle of the stone.”

Draco did as told and immediately felt a cooling sensation wash over him as his hand pressed flatly against the smooth stone. The arch lit up silver and the middle spilt open with sparkles shimmering away to the edge. Once gone a small room was revealed. It wasn’t much; in fact it was barely anything. It was simply a bed with a desk and chair, accompanied by a set of drawers and a bookshelf.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Unspeakables need only the barest of necessities to survive. You will learn that soon.”

“How long will I be here?”

“As long as it takes for you to be ready. The world only misses a few 6892 and most of the time it is never those who are used to the good things. Come, there is more to show you.”

Draco stepped out of his room and the wall appeared once again with the same silver shimmering, putting it back in place. The pair then moved on, walking down the foreboding halls in absolute silence. The blonde had many questions to ask but he wasn’t sure if he wanted the answers. The whole situation seemed so surreal he kept finding himself doubting that it was actually happening.

“What do you wish to know 6892? Your mind is full of questions.”

“How did you know that?” Draco spoke with a slight disgusted tone

“Unspeakables are connected to one another and the connections are very open when they are new. Over time you will develop a high level of occlumency as well as legilimency to protect your mind.”

Draco frowned underneath his hood as he thought about what 2482 said (he refused to acknowledge the man as his superior). His frown then turned into a smirk as he realized that being an Unspeakable was going to get him so many perks.

“What other things will I be able to do exactly?”

“You will become an animangus but not in the way other simple wizards and witches do.”

“What do you mean?”

The blonde was staring curiously at 2482. His interest was incredibly high and he wondered what exactly he’d be able to do that was so different than an ordinary wizard.

“Unspeakables have three sizes of transformation. The first being a small sized creature, the next being an average sized and the final being a large creature. Sometimes, if you are chosen, your biggest stage is a mythical creature but that has not happened in centuries.”

“What is with all this chosen shit? You honestly expect me to believe I was chosen by something you tell me is all powerful and all that other bloody shit?”

“Unspeakables are chosen by the oldest of magic, the ancestors of the magic used today.”

“Magic has ancestry?”

“You speak like a child and think like one too. Have you truly believed there was only one kind of magic out there? Magic is like the rainbow, there are many different parts to it, different aspects which all come together under one roof.”

Draco pondered the words of the man before him until they arrived to another room where 2482 waved his hand and a bronze shimmering just like before revealing an arch that lead into what seemed to be a training room.

“You will train here with the others. One you are deemed ready you will be given a partner and will go on missions with them.”

2482 turned around and Draco reluctantly followed, wanting to watch the Unspeakables inside. The door shimmered before him, sealing the inside away from his prying eyes. He sighed and turned on his feet, intent on following 2482 to the next destination.

The walked the halls and the blonde shivered in his cloak. The stone halls were drafty despite the many torches that rested against the walls allowing hints of warmth to seep past his clothes, dancing on the fabric but never sinking in to the trembling body beneath.

They arrived to another faint arch and with a wave of his hand a bronze shimmering appeared once more, revealing a cafeteria inside. Trays floated about the benches, setting themselves down before Unspeakables who dug in to the food wholeheartedly.

“As you can see you’ll head here one you’ve finished training. You’ll eat, and then head back to the training room or to your room to sleep.”

“What no bar? No area for people to relax?”

“Alcohol demolishes the mind and body preventing it from properly adjusting to its full potential.”

“Bloody hell.”

“Come 6892, you must rest.”

…

Ginny last with Blaise in the chairs as the aurors spoke to the nurses who were on duty the night before. She pushed some of her red locks behind her ear sighing in the process.

“I’m sorry.”

The Italian turned his head and saw that the redhead was quite remorseful about the events that had occurred.

“It’s fine. You couldn’t have done anything. I just don’t get it…he was out like a light.”

“You’re right. It doesn’t make sense and I can’t check his charts either because the aurors won’t let anyone into his room. They’re considering it a crime scene.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. It’s incredibly frustrating. They’re taking it in as evidence but none of the know how to read the charts.”

“Why can’t your brother or Potter help you?”

“Harry takes his job too seriously and Ron does what Harry tells him. They’d never bend the rules.”

“Got some bloody sticks up their asses then.”

“Something like that. Ever since Hermione passed they’ve been so stotic. You’d never think she was the light in their hearts since she was always the serious one…”

The pair sat silently on the chairs watching the aurors question the nurses and flurry in and out of Malfoy’s room.

Ginny huffed, crossing her arms as she leaned back, completely unimpressed with the current situation. An idea then crossed her mind and she sent a sly look to the Italian beside her who’s gaze was focused on his hands.

“Blaise…”

“Yeah?”

“How do you feel about being a distraction for me?”

“What do you mean?”

“You distract the aurors, I’ll dip in to Malfoy’s room and grab his charts. Then we’ll head to my office to go over them.”

Blaise grinned and nodded. They were finally going to do something and maybe, just maybe get some answers.

The Slytherin got up and with a quick flick of his wrist, with his wand in hand; he sent the hospital into a frenzy. The nurses turned into hens and the aurors were baffled and tried to find the counter curse. Ginny snickered as she shot up out of her chair and made her way over to the vacated room. The redhead glanced around her, noticing that no one was looking since they were too busy with the turn of events.

She dipped into Malfoy’s room and made her way over to his charts that lay unscathed, waiting for her to open them.

It was then that her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes narrowed as they took in the info before her. She clasped the file shut, her eyes still confused as to the news she had just learned. The redhead slipped back out, checking left and right to find no one was paying attention to her.

She motioned to Blaise who nodded and she headed to her office, leaving the loudness behind her. Her mind was whirring a mile a minute, confusion burning itself into her brain.

Nothing made sense.

Ginny shut the door behind her gently as she entered her office, her fingers lingering a little on the handle. She walked over to her desk, slamming the file onto the wood. The papers shot out of the folder, scattering themselves amongst the mess of her desk, resting on top of the weights and clips. Her eyes drifted themselves to looking out the window. Aurors rested outside talking amongst themselves while other Healers sat down with their lunches, whispering, questioning what was going on.

Ginny knew she was going to get so much heat from the catastrophe.

“Ginny, hey.”

The redhead turned around, her hair flying around like a fan almost whipping her face.

“Blaise. Take a seat.”

The Italian sat down and nodded over to the disaster on her desk.

“What’d you find? Anything helpful?”

“It depends. Malfoy’s charts show no sign of his condition being changed and yet there are a few disturbances. They’re short, incredibly so, lasting approximately a second and are scattered throughout the months. It’s like he was getting better, only to have it ripped from his grasp.”

“It sounds normal to me.”

“For a muggle yes, for a wizard or witch no. Especially when concerning the dark arts. Blaise, there’s something much deeper going on here…something isn’t right.”

…

Draco lay on his bed, his grey irises staring up at the ceiling. He swore he could see the dust filter down as his eyes adjusted to the darkness he was surrounded by.

The whole situation was surreal, and Draco almost wondered if it was sort of trick played on him for all the shit he did in Hogwarts. Even though 2482 insisted he was “chosen” why the hell would anyone or anything in this case choose a Death Eater, the very thing that represented destruction of the world?

He turned on his side to stare at the floor, and then he perked up, deciding to try to do what 2482 had done earlier.

He got up off the bed and walked towards the opposing wall. The blonde pulled his wand out from his cloak and waved it, whispering,

_“Speculo.”_

A mirror appeared on the wall. Draco reached for his hood and pulled it off. He couldn’t see a single thing, except for the silver glow of his irises, illuminating his new future ahead of him.

**A/N: I know, I know, not the most exciting chapter but it is necessary to get us to the core of our story. We’re on our way there! And never fear, our favourite Gryffindor will be joining us soon.**

 

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Practice Makes Perfect

_Chapter 3_

_Practice Makes Perfect_

_“Practice is the hardest part of learning, and training is the essence of transformation.”_

_― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are_

_Song~ Heroes (We Could Be) ~ Alesso ft Tove Lo_

Draco fell to the floor hard, his back cracking as it made impact with the mats. He groaned and rolled of the side, taking a moment to himself to breathe a little before he got hit again.

His training was not going as well as he would have liked and it certainly didn’t help that they weren’t taking it easy on him. Granted, he’d never been one to take the easy road but in this moment he _really_ fucking wanted to. _Anything_ would be better than getting beaten to a bloody pulp, having no way to defend yourself, all because his _senses_ were supposed to be kicking in.

And they were just apparently not fast enough according to 2482 who deemed him _sloppy_ and _uncoordinated_. If anything Draco was the pristine of a man, having been a seeker on his quidditch team, voted the hottest wizard by Witch Weekly, modelling for several magazine covers and ads, and finally, owning the greatest wizarding company the wizarding world had ever seen.

He was everything perfect, in one sleek, angular, stunning specimen. In his opinion, Draco was the epitome of a man. There was simply no other way of looking at it.

“Get up.”

The blonde rolled onto his back once more, glaring at 2482, cursing him to the depths of hell and back. He took his superior’s arm and pulled himself up. From there he walked to the other end of the mat one again, reaching into his pocket of his cloak and grasping onto the firmness of his wand. The hawthorn was smooths to his touch and the unicorn hair as its core thrummed with his magic, giving him a feeling of comfort and success. He _could_ do it, he just needed to focus.

He would _not_ be a coward. Not this time.

Draco’s gaze became hard, concentrated. He focused on that feeling he got when 2482 had attacked him in St. Mungo’s, the feeling of survival. It was then he felt alive and he knew his eyes had gone to their molten silver. He watched as 2482 sent a hex at him, whispering the words oh so faintly.

Time seemed to slow down because as the spell headed towards him it wasn’t moving at a quick pace. He could see the magic strings swirling around each other in their orange glow, random spikes shooting out from the stream as they approached him. He’d never experienced this kind of magic before and it was exhilarating.

The Slytherin timed it in his head, analyzing the spell before him. He stepped to the side and timed sped up then and he flicked his wrist sending a stinging hex 2482’s way. The Unspeakable of course dodged it, but Draco knew he was grinning underneath his hood.

“Now that 6892 is how an Unspeakable fights. Again.”

…

Draco stretched his limbs as he left the training room and headed down to the cafeteria. He adjusted his hood to make sure no one saw his face as other Unspeakables in training passed him by. No words were spoken or movements done in greeting. The blonde supposed it was their way, to be so solemn seeing as their identities were minimized to nothing but a number.

He could hear the whispering drifting through the halls towards his ears from the dining hall. His ears twitched, as they tended to do since they were adjusting to the sensitivity of his hyper hearing. It was another benefit to being an Unspeakable. His eyesight had increased, his hearing, taste, feeling and smell; all of his basic senses in overdrive, constantly working, alerting him to the environment he was in.

He cranked his neck again, rubbing it because it was awfully sore from the training. He’d have to spend some time in the library researching healing spells to be able to heal quickly on the battlefield in the future.

Not to mention the pain was being an absolute bitch.

Draco sighed and entered the dining hall. He looked around, briefly noting how many others were in there with him. Not many from the looks of it and all at their own tables. He approached the tables where the food was, grabbed a plate and piled on the grub. Unspeakables ate fairly well and Draco supposed it was because they were fighters they had to maintain a healthy diet. Not that the blonde hadn’t before, hell Quidditch always left him starving.

The food seemed to be mostly meat from the looks of it, with some potatoes and vegetables off to the side. There were hearty stews resting in cauldrons at the end, and a beef one caught the Slytherin’s nose in particular. He filled his bowl and grabbed some utensils, then walked over to an abandoned table. He sat himself down, glancing around at the others, and then began to eat in silence.

It was oddly companionable; in fact Draco enjoyed the silence that rang throughout the room. It was quite a contrast from his days at Hogwarts, and reminded him of home. The blonde sighed blissfully as he dreamt of his silken sheets and grand king sized bed. The cot he slept on was terrible. He woke up this morning with a terrible backache.

Draco sighed and took a sip of his soup. It wasn’t amazing but it wasn’t too shabby either for the former Slytherin. Unfortunately, he found that it disappeared all to quickly as well as the rest of his food. Had he really eaten it that fast?

Apparently so from the looks of it.

Since his meal was finished, Draco got up and took his dishes to a bin that rested off near the far end of the dining hall and the proceeded to exit the room. He made his way through the halls, weaving in and out until he arrived back to the training room.

Time to start Round 2.

…

Blaise and Ginny sat in her office at St. Mungos with books surrounding them, open to various pages. The pair was trying to figure out the mystery behind Draco’s disappearance. Ginny, because he was her patient and Blaise because he was his friend.

But neither one were having any luck.

“This is useless. We’ll never find out what the hell happened.”

The ginger sighs, looking over towards the Italian. “We can’t give up. As long as the Aurors are working on it, so will we.”

“You don’t have to help you know.”

Ginny shrugged. “I want to solve this just as much as you do. He’s my patient. If only Hermione were here, she’d never give up.”

“Really?”

“She was relentless when it came to researching or finding something. And mind you she always found what she was looking for usually quicker than most.”

“I am sorry for your loss.”

The healer gazed  at the man before her, her eyes softening with each passing minute.

“Thank you.”

…

“FUCK.”

Draco rolled to the side, barely dodging the killing curse that was aimed at him. He shot to his feet, running towards 2482 and moving side to side so his opponent couldn’t focus on him. Once he got close enough he jumped up onto the wall, running across it, his eyes flashing a fierce silver and landing on his trainer shoulders, pointing his wand right on the top of their head.

“Dead.”

The blonde pushed off of 2482 and stood there arms crossed, waiting for the trainer to speak. But instead the figure turned to dust, slowly trailing down till there was nothing left. Draco’s silver eyes went wide and soon the room was plunged into darkness.

“Merlin bloody fucker.”

The unspeakable whipped around, his cloak swirling around his legs as he stood completely still. His senses went into overdrive, his silver eyes darting everywhere in the blackness, trying to spot any sort of movement. His ears twitched to try and pick up any noise and his nose jerked, trying to smell his opponent.

But there was nothing.

Draco took in a deep breath, shutting his eyes to really focus on what was around him. His ears twitched again and he clenched his fists, his right hand around his wand.

He heard a footstep then. It was far away, but most definitely in the room. He heard another and then another until Draco realized there was more than one person in the room. He swore in his head, because there was no way in hell he was ready for this.

But Merlin damn him if he wasn’t going to try. He was a Slytherin for fucksake! He could do this.

Thoughts whirled through the blonde’s mind as he tried to find some way to defeat the enemy around him. He focused incredibly hard until finally an idea popped into his head. He knew if he opened his eyes they’d see him, the glowed ridiculously bright, but he knew it had to be done.

He pointed his wand straight up yelling “REDUCTO” as he did so. The chandelier above him shattered around and Draco ran thanking the heavens for his heightened ability to run incredibly fast. He began shooting stunning spells at any opponents he came across, running in the full circle of the room. He could hear the others swearing as the stepped on glass which sunk into their light shoes and stabbed their feet. He defeated those guys quickly.

Soon the lights came back on and the other chandeliers glowed brightly. 2482 approached Draco and held out his hand.

“Congratulations 6892. You passed the test. You are ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“To receive your partner and begin what you were meant to do.”

Draco took his trainer’s hand and shook it but a feeling of dread came into his gut. He wasn’t sure if he should be excited to have a partner. The blonde had always worked better alone because then he didn’t have to trust anyone but himself.

Now he was going to have to put his trust into a _complete stranger_ and never know who they were but a number to define them.

He had never felt a more bittersweet moment in his life.

…

The blonde followed 2482 down the hall to the apparition room where he first arrived. He knew his partner was supposed to be arriving soon. They entered the round room and Draco watched as his superior stood off the side, his hood directed to the center of the circle, waiting.

The Slytherin joined 2482 and stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall with his wand tucked under his left arm.

“Doesn’t this person already have a partner?”

“They were defeated in the line of duty; therefore 9475 will receive a new one.”

“How long has 9475 been an Unspeakable?”

“Not long. But they’re quite good, better than most surprisingly.”

Draco furrowed his brow. While he was happy that he was getting a good partner, he was also concerned that his partner would see him as weak and Draco was NOT a weakling.

“Do not worry 6892. I would not partner the two of you if I did not think you would make an excellent team. And I do believe the two of you will succeed in everything you do. You both passed the test the same way though your attitudes are quite different. There may be clashing but the two of you will get over it.”

Draco huffed and closed his eyes. It lasted for only a second though because as soon as he did the room became windy so he opened his grey eyes to see a whirlwind begin to appear and grow stronger in the middle of the room. He slowly leaned forward, interested in who would be appearing (though he knew it was futile. His partner would be wearing a cloak covering their head too)

Soon a slender figure appeared, dressed in the same black cloak as Draco, their head completely covered. The odd thing was that they wore leather gloves, black ones, to hide their fingers. He supposed it was a smart idea if you were trying to hide who you were though the cloaks did a spectacular job of that themselves. Why picking up the extra piece of clothing was beyond him.

Different strokes for different folks.

“9475 it is good to see you. How are you fairing?”

“Fine.”

The blonde’s ears perked up at the voice. Something sounded incredibly familiar about his partner’s voice but he didn’t know what.

“I have found you a new partner. 9475 meet 6892. They have just passed the test, the same way you did in fact.”

9475 directed their gaze onto the Slytherin who was tempted to squirm away even though he couldn’t see their face but he didn’t budge.

“You blasted the chandelier and then ran the perimeter of the room destroying the others along the way?”

“Yeah.”

“Odd. I thought I was the only one intelligent enough to do something like that. It appears not.”

“6892 has not been on any mission yet 9475. I expect you to not push but direct.”

“Yes 2482.”

“Good. Now I have another mission lined up for the two of you. It’s in the Northern region of Wiltshire, near the Atlantic ocean. There is an abandoned millwork there but there as been irregular activity that has been seen there. Go check it out, defeat what you msut and report back here.”

“Understood.”

“6892? Are you ready for your first mission?”

“Of course 2482.”

“Excellent. Off the two of you go. You may rest when you get back 9475.”

The Unspeakable bows and then turns to Draco. They send an image into his head and he wrinkled his nose. The blonde is pretty sure he’ll never get used to that feeling. His partner apparates away and soon the blonde follows suit.

It’s time to begin what he was meant to do.


	4. Unvanquished

Chapter 4

Unvanquished

_“The phoenix must burn to emerge.”_

_― Janet Fitch, White Oleander_

_Song: Under The Waves - Pendulum_

Draco landed on the ground with a hard thunk. He peered out from underneath the rim of his hood, looking at his surroundings. It was raining ( _of course it was_ ), and he and his partner, whoever they were, seemed to have apparated into a graveyard. Ahead of them was a church, old and abandoned, the chunks missing from the side, part of the building boarded up with wood panels, the steeple being the only thing remaining perfectly intact and even that seemed to have rusted and dulled over the years.

“This way.”

The blonde gritted his teeth. _Who are they_ to tell him what he’s supposed to do? Granted, they’ve actually gone on missions before but he’s just as talented as they are, since _apparently_ the magic chose him and all that other shit. Draco grumbled under his breath as he followed his partner, weaving through the graveyard. Even the headstones were eroding away and the blonde shut his eyes briefly for each one he passed.

The dead always deserved respect.

He raised his head up to see his partner staring at him. The Slytherin could practically see the judgemental glare radiating out around them as they looked the blonde down, though he couldn’t see their face.

Draco wondered, only for a moment, what colour their eyes glowed when fighting.

“What?”

“What are you doing? We don’t have time to dilly dally over graves! We need to get inside the mill over there and figure out what’s going on!” they hissed, clearly unhappy with Draco’s actions. The blonde rolled his eyes.

“Let’s go then.”

9475 brushed their cloak with the leather gloves, and Draco stared at the clothing that graced their fingers. He couldn’t tell if the fingers were large or slender. It baffled him because whoever this person was, they were _so_ careful as to not reveal who they were, so precise on every detail to make sure nothing was out of place.

He was surprised they’ve only been an Unspeakable for a few months.

The pair made their way over to the millwork, which stood tall and proud. The duo walked around it, with 9475 crouching to pick up the earth and rub it through their fingers. Draco meanwhile placed his hand on the wall and his brow furrowed. It was vibrating which meant that the mill wasn’t as abandoned as they thought.

“The ground has recent movement on it. From the looks of it people were here a few days ago.”

“Wrong. The wall is vibrating which means they’re inside right _now._ ”

The two cloaked figures stood in the rain and Draco could feel the stare from 9475 harden as each minute passed by. Finally the blonde’s partner relented with a sigh and went to lean into the wall, placing their hood on the stone. A soft gasp was heard and Draco knew the voice sounded incredibly familiar. He _knows_ this person…but _who is it_?

“You’re right. There’s definitely something in there.”

The hood left the wall and 9475 faced Draco.

“We need to get inside.”

“Already found a way.”

“What?”

The blonde pointed to 9475’s feet and he could tell the Unspeakable’s brow was furrowing.

“How did I not see that?” they seethed, clearly furious with themselves.

“Obviously you’re daft. Never fear _, I’ve_ got us covered. Let’s get inside and figure out what the hell is going on.”

9475 simple stood there and Draco knew they were glaring holes into his head but he didn’t care. He just beat the _amazing_ Unspeakable at their own game. It was then that 9475 simply turned around rather than arguing back and walked towards the ground entrance through the cellar. Thanks to his sensitive hearing though, he heard 9475 mutter prick as they descended down the steps.

He grinned smugly to that.

* * *

Draco found it odd how well he and 9475 move. Clearly 2482 knew what they were doing, considering that the blonde and his partner bounced off of one another perfectly. They each had their own ideas, and yet seemed to be able to collaborate and work together to get inside of the mill. Once they had gotten into the cellar, they didn’t light their wands because their eyes had adjusted to the darkness and slowly made their way to the stairs that led to the rest of the mill.

This was when Draco realized they worked well together. They couldn’t blast the door because then they’d alert whoever was inside. No, they needed to be stealthy about this.

“6892 watch my back.”

“No. _You_ watch _my_ back.”

“Bloody hell 6892 this is not the time to gain a pair! _I_ will go first because _I_ have the experience and _I actually know what I’m doing_!”

The blond found he couldn’t argue to that so he huffed as his response and crossed his arms rather childishly. Draco stood behind his partner who was now crouched low, fiddling with the handle on the door. He could hear scratching amongst other sounds, to the point where his curiosity was getting the best of him and he had to ask.

“What _are_ you doing?”

9475 stood up and grinned, their pearly whites reflecting the faint moonlight streaming in through the cellar window.

“Picking the lock. Muggle trick.”

“I see. Is it open now?” the blond drawled. His mind was focused on the little tidbit he learned. His partner was half-blood or a muggle born, most likely the latter. It didn’t matter anyhow because 9475 opened the door gently; a faint creaking sound erupting and the pair shared a glance before moving further into the mill.

* * *

A few lanterns flickered, faintly illuminating the winding staircase that lead to the main area of the mill. The pair slowly crept up the steps, pausing every once in a while to listen. Nothing could be heard but the howling of the wind outside of the stone walls.

It was then that Draco heard muffling. His ears twitched allowing him a better access to his surroundings. It was definitely voices that drifted into his ears. He tapped 9475 on the shoulder and they gave him a thumbs up, indicating that they too were aware of the sound.

The duo increased their pace on the stairs, but still moved carefully as to not alert the people of their existence. Soon they saw light streaming in from an archway to their left. The blonde nodded to his partner and with his quick movements, moved through the light to the other side of the arch. Now the only thing separating his partner and him was the beam of brightness coming through the dark hall.

“Now what?”

9475 peered out of the hall into the other room. They did something strange with their cloaked fingers to which Draco just shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. A huff erupted from the blond’s partner, indicating their displeasure with the situation, which seemed to be something Draco could associate with them _quite_ often.

From there 9475 stepped out, leaving him to blink a few times from under the hood because he was quite confident that they were not supposed to act rashly. And yet there was 9475 running into the battle like an idiot. He groaned knowing that he’d have to chase after them for their stupidity. Sometimes he _hated_ being more intelligent than others.

* * *

He ran after his partner into the fray. It was messy, after all the whole place reeked of bile and blood, and evidently hadn’t been cleaned in months. Bodies hung from the rafters, either of bone or peeling flesh. The blond gaped at the sight before swallowing down his own need to vomit and joining his partner in attacking the people inside.

From the looks of it, the crooks that stood before him were nothing but the people doing the brunt work. They were on the bottom of whatever hierarchy this was.

He looked to his partner then who was sending hexes all around and dodging spells sent their way. Not to be outdone, Draco whipped his wand out and ran towards the nearest target. He knocked them out swiftly with his fist that checked right into the stranger’s head causing their body to crumble to the ground.

That was easy. A little _too_ easy. But Draco didn’t have time to dwell on the simplicity of his attack due to three burly men were approaching him with cotton masks that covered their faces, leaving nothing but the eyes for show.

And that’s when Draco noticed it. In sunlight, he would have spotted it with the naked eye, but since this was firelight, which only illuminated so much, his heightened senses were kicking into play allowing his eyes to gain their silver glow and wicked perception.

Their eyes were obsidian. Pure and unaltered blackness, void of any sort of emotion or mental capacity. They were _empty_.

It certainly wasn’t normal, and with that the Slytherin dropped to the ground and rolled as one of the men sent his fist towards his absent space. The man tumbled forward and Draco shot to his feet, sending a hex to the man. Vines of rock erupted from the ground wrapping the masked figure, and the cracking his neck rendered him unconscious and immobile.

Draco then turned towards the other two men who have left him for his partner. 9475 spun around with a multitude of spells flying out of their wand. The blond rushed over to their side, shoving people aside and blasting them quickly as he could till he reached his partner.

“You alright?”

“I’m fine. I’ve got this handled.”

Draco huffed. “Right because having sixteen, large sized buffoons _really_ paints the portrait clearly that you have it handled.”

“It’s _picture_ and _shut up_.”

They went back to back now, firing non-verbal spells so their attackers didn’t know what to expect. But the more Draco fought the more he realized that this was too easy, there’s was ton of them, but they were falling down quickly.

There had to be something that they were missing. His ears flicked then, sensing something above them, to the far left. He tilted his gaze and hissed.

“What 6892?” hissed his partner right back as they blasted another feeble person away.

“They’re merely a distraction. That’s the person we really want.”

He can feel 9475’s gaze drift to where he quickly nudged with his head.

“Bloody hell _DAMNIT_. Back up 6892. We need to go after them.”

Draco gave his partner a puzzled look but they waved their hand and he went flying towards the wall. He smashed into it, dropping to the ground and wincing. Luckily he could feel the old magic inside of him working and fixing his broken bones quickly so he could get back into the fight.

However his partner captured his attention instead. A strange glow emitted from their core, spreading further and further from them. As soon as it touched the skin of the enemies close by them burned into ash, crumbling to the ground until there were none left.

Draco rushed over to their side as they dropped to their knees, clearly exhausted from the amount of magic it took to pull the attack off.

“Bloody hell 9475. That was amazing.”

They chuckled weakly in response. “6892 help me up. We need to catch that person.”

The blond grabbed their elbow and brought them to their feet, with them clutching to him form support. The arm was thin, and it made Draco wonder if his partner was a woman. It was possible, but the cloak they wore was too heavy and thick to really tell.

Besides, there were more important things to focus on, like catching the leader of this little charade. With that in mind, Draco hoisted his partner further into his arms and took off, echoing the path of their enemy, whoever they were, and moving faster than any normal wizard or muggle.

* * *

 

Ginny and Blaise ate from the take out containers with a heavy feeling of defeat. They had found nothing. No records of his, nor old tomes referred to anything of the like of what occurred with Draco Malfoy, patient 6892. The redhead hung her head as she dumped the chopsticks into the empty box before shoving it into the garbage.

“I’m sorry Blaise. I wish there was more I could do to help solve this.”

The Italian shrugged and gave the old Gryffindor a bittersweet smile. “I know. And I’m sorry this happened to you. I know it won’t look good with your boss or the Ministry for that matter.”

Ginny snorts. “Nothing ever looks good with them. After the war things changed for a while, but eventually went back to the old way. I mean, yeah, people don’t go around saying mudblood nearly as much as they did, and yeah purebloods don’t have as much control as they used to…but the Ministry still has a stick up their ass about the way things should be done. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the success of Malfoy Enterprises and them bringing in muggle technology amongst other things, I doubt the ministry would be as “open” as they are now…I fucking hate the ministry. It’s a bunch of ass-wipes and bigoted old rats.”

“Quite an opinion there Miss Weasley.”

“Shit. I got carried away didn’t I? Sorry. I tend to do that. I’m not on the greatest of terms with them.”

“What happened?”

“Had a bit of a wild night, may or may not have publicly declared my feelings about them, while intoxicated. I almost got away with it but they caught me on their security footage. Wait a minute…”

“What?

“The security footage! We can check that! There’s camera in each hospital room and hall to monitor patients. UGH! _Why_ did I not think of it sooner?”

Blaise shrugged. “Better late than never. Let’s go look at those tapes.”

* * *

Draco rushed up the stairs as quickly has he could with 9475 using him for balance. His partner tripped and stumbled a bit which caused the blond to slow down his pace.

“9475, you don’t have the strength to carry on.”

“I can’t leave you alone.”

“I can do this. Rest. I’ll find you after.”

Draco left 9475’s side and rushed after the person in questioning, not letting his partner fight him on leaving them behind. The last thing they needed was to be weighed down by exhaustion. He burst forth from the top of the stairs to find himself staring at the figure who rushed out the front door to the mill. Draco gave in to pursuit, thanking the ancient magic within him for the heightened abilities. He knew his eyes were fiercely silver due to the Unspeakable power but he didn’t let that slow him down either.

Soon he was outside and it was raining hard. The droplets began to soak him to the bone and he shivered from the icy feeling. He didn’t let that stop him either. He chased the fiend through the fields down the dirt road of the countryside until he stumbled his way into a graveyard by a rundown church.

He could feel something in the air. It was unpleasant; much like tar and ash and for a moment Draco could swear he tasted blood from breathing. Whatever this place was, it was no longer that of holiness but something far darker and more disturbed.

The person he had been chasing weaved in and out of the gravestones until they disappeared completely. Draco swore under his breath for getting distracted and losing the chase. He shut his eyes then and let his breathing slow down as to concentrate on the environment around him. He let his ears flicker a few times until they caught on to the sound of faint footsteps and heavy breathing. The enemy was tired which was good. It meant they’d be easier to catch.

He listened closely to the signs of the leader’s whereabouts. He reached slowly into his robe for his wand and that’s when a gigantic wind blew through the graveyard. It was fairly windy but this…this was different. Draco bent his knees against the gale, his grip no longer on his wand but on his hood to keep it from falling off. He couldn’t let the stranger know who he was. However his wand slipped from its pocket and rolled onto the ground. Once Draco felt the absence his hands let go of the hood which blew straight off to grasp the wood. He rolled to his side and stood up quickly, wand pointed in the direction of the shadow that had emerged. He heard a cackle and his teeth ground together with his mouth hardening. This was not good.

He was about to shoot out a spell until someone beat him too it.

“AQUA ERECTO!” screamed the voice. Draco turned to look at his partner and gasped. 9475’s face was the last one he expected to see. The deceased Hermione Granger.

“ _No…_ ”

However the brunette was far too busy to focus on the fact that her identity was also revealed as well as his. The stream of water that came from the tip of her wand was enormous and powerful, rendering their enemy unconscious and hopefully, not dead. The wind howled as the rain began to pick up. The blond simply stood there in shock until Granger herself realized her hood was no longer hiding who she was. Her eyes went wide as the pair took each other in.

Granger snapped out of the trance first. She rushed over to his side, grasping his wrist with her gloved hand and the enemy’s wrist and apparated out of the graveyard to who knows where.

Draco’s only thought as the world spun before him was that Granger was anything but gone. She was had simply been unvanquished.

…


	5. Hatching A Plan

Chapter 5

Hatching A Plan

_“ With a revival, you're compared to somebody else.”_

_Kelli O'Hara_

_Song: Let It Go – James Bay_

Draco squinted as the light poured through his eyelids. He rolled over, grumbling as he did so and burrowing further into the sheets. His eyes flashed open then, because he knew he shouldn’t be lying in sheets let alone a _bed_. The blond sat up quickly, glancing around to take in his surroundings. A large window lay open to his right with a gentle sea breeze blowing through and the curtains dancing on its tips. The sun shone through the frame, lighting up the whole room in a cheery glow. The bed was made of bamboo with incredibly thick and soft white sheets that hid Draco’s body with its cumbersome size.

The blond scrambled out of the bed and crashed into a vanity in shock, wincing as the annoyance began to settle in. He rolled his limbs while walking over to the dresser, looking for something to cover his undergarments. Once he found a pair of pants he threw them on and exited the bedroom.

A sweet smell filled his senses and Draco felt his eyes turn to their molten silver as his smell heightened. He crouched low, believing that the only reason his magic was acting up was because there was a threat near. However, a voice pulled him from his thoughts; one that he thought was long dead.

“Relax Malfoy. It’s just pancakes.”

Pancakes? The blond straightened himself up before he descended the staircase. The floor was hardwood but surprisingly not cold underneath his bare feet. The house itself now that he took it all in looked like something out of a commercial for those tropical resorts.

As Draco moved throughout the house he finally found himself leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen. And there she stood.  Gone was the dark cloak that entrapped her body, replaced by a light blue kimono and white pajamas that complimented her tanned skin. The sun illuminated the golden hues of her brown hair and Draco had his breath stolen from him for a moment.

When she turned around her eyes were nothing extraordinary though. They were a simple, plain brown but for some reason, Draco found that to be a far more endearing quality of hers. He shook his head to chase the thoughts away. There were more important things to worry about, like how Hermione Granger was _actually alive_.

“I figure you have a lot of questions but first, the man we captured died in my attack. I’m afraid I over calculated but we can still look into his body to clues. Something wasn’t right with him. Anyway, have some pancakes. You need to eat. Your body is too thin. I’m surprised you managed to succeed in your training with your ego and all.”

Draco sat down in the white kitchen on the barstool, looking at her as she stood in front of him, placing a plate of pancakes on the placemat before going back to chopping up food for whatever dish she planned on eating.

The blond regarded her in silence, refusing to rise to the insult that she laid before him. He does not have a _big ego_ , he was just confident in who he was. Nothing particularly wrong with that.

“So…out with it. I’m sure you’re dying to ask how the great Hermione Granger survived.”

“Not particularly. You faked your death because you were called I’m assuming.”

Draco, of course, was dying to know how she was still alive but figured he should play it cool. He didn’t need _her_ to think any less of him than she already did. They were partners now. They had to work together.

“Well, yes actually...you’re right.”

The blond smirked while taking another bite of the pancakes. He was right. Wasn’t _that_ something.

“And let’s leave it at that shall we? We’re not exactly close so I have no need to spare the details to you. Speaking of you, how _were_ you called? I’m sure it was nothing like mine, each calling is unique to that _of_ the called. Fascinating it all is.”

Draco stared incredulously at the witch before him. She was spiralling about calling and the called but all he could think about was how _friendly_ she was being. She should be throwing things at his head and wishing him _death_.

“Granger.”

She ignored him and kept prattling on.

“GRANGER.”

“ _What_ Malfoy?”

Out of nowhere the brunette’s persona went from chipper to furious. Her eyebrow narrowed, and the plain brown eyes suddenly began to sparkle and flashes of gold appeared in them.

“Why all of the niceties? You and I are not _buddy buddy_. Fucking hell we’re not even _acquaintances_. So what’s your game Granger? _What are you playing at_?”

All of the sudden the vase on the kitchen counter exploded and the appliances that lay around began to spark. The blond’s eyes went wide and strayed back to hers which were _pure gold_. Her lips snarled as her fists clenched so Draco leaned back with his hands raised.

“Holy shit Granger! Calm the fuck down!”

“I will _not_ calm down. I was being _nice_ because we’re stuck _together_ for the next little while. Do you not realize _how_ much trouble we’re in Malfoy? _We know who our partner is._ The number one rule of the Unspeakable is to not reveal your identity to _anyone_ let alone your partner. They’ll be after us now. _We’re on our own_. So it isn’t going to do us any favours by trying to murder the other, which _by the way_ I would very much like to do. So I’ll be nice to you so we can figure out this odd activity and stop whatever is threatening our _home._ ”

After her speech, everything became silent and calm. Granger’s eyes began to fade from gold to the ordinary brown and the blond slowly leaned forward.

“Alright. Didn’t need to go all _banshee_ on me. A simple explanation would have done.”

She shot him another furious look.

“Can’t expect me to change in a day Granger.”

She simply snorted in response and muttered something under her breath that only made Draco smirk. The rest of the morning was spent in silence.

…

A while later, after breakfast had finished and the afternoon sun appeared, Draco found Granger leaning on her porch overlooking the ocean that swept itself onto the sand. He joined her on the other side of the porch, leaning his back against the railing while her elbows were what balanced her. They were doing the same thing but in a different way. Draco let the notion slip by. He reached into his pocket, shuffling around for a drag but found none. The brunette seemed to catch on and without even giving him a glance, began to speak.

“Those will kill you. A filthy muggle habit. I’m surprised you’d even touch something created by _my kind_ as you so often put it.”

Draco snorted. “You’ve really been out of sorts haven’t you?” he spared a glance her way but she remained impassive. The blond shrugged in response. “Malfoy Enterprises has slowly been bringing in muggle things over the past few years…Wait a minute…you passed a month ago not years….just how long were you actually gone for Granger?”

Granger simply looked at him then, her plain brown eyes holding some sort of unreadable emotion. Her face may have been blank, but the reason Draco had been so good at affecting her in the past was because of her eyes. He had once overheard his employees talking about how eyes were windows to the soul and Granger’s were _always_ open no matter how hard she locked everything else.

But it had been _years_ since he had seen her last so he supposed he was a little rusty in reading her, but it had never been to the point where she was _indecipherable._ That was new. She pushed herself off the railing and began to move back inside.

“Shall we take a look at the body?”

“Granger you’re avoiding the question.”

“ _The body_ Malfoy. The sooner we get started the better.”

Draco sighed. “Won’t they find us?”

“Anywhere in the world yes; but not here.”

And with that she entered into the house, shutting the screen door behind her and leaving the afternoon sun to illuminate his pale figure that simply stared at its shadow.

…

The body lied on a slate of stone while a sheet covered it. Granger walked around to the head and gently peeled the sheet back, revealing a pale man with dyed black hair. He seemed to be that of what the muggle referred to as “goth” with his black nails and lips. He seemed young too.

“This here, if my guess is correct, and it probably will be, is Levi Smith. He was recently promoted to manager at a little shop in Diagon Alley until he disappeared out of the blue. He certainly didn’t look like this when he disappeared however.”

The blond spared a glance to the brunette and could see that she felt sadness for the dead man before them.

“Were you two close?”

“Hm? Oh no. I visited the shop a few times a month so we knew of each other. He was so excited when he got promoted. This is all so unfortunate.”

“So what do you think happened?”

“I don’t know. This whole charade of his…it’s very out of character. And to think he was leading whatever that was…something very strange is going on and I doubt its good.”

“Well of course it isn’t _good_ Granger. Bloody hell he summoned zombie things to _kill us_. I wouldn’t think it to be _good_.”

“No need to be a bloody ass Malfoy.”

“Well then stop saying stupid things.”

Granger glared at him hard before huffing and leaving the basement. Draco followed her, not comfortable with being left beside a dead body all alone.  “So…what are we going to do?”

“ _I_ am going to grab some books from the library while _you_ are going to sit here and stay put. Maybe do some diagnostics on the body.”

“Why can’t I go with you?”

“Because _you’re_ a menace and pissing me off. Honestly…it’s like it _would_ have been so much better for me not to have survived the attack.”

With that she whipped out her wand and apparated, leaving the blond all by himself in the house.

…

Hermione gritted her teeth as she appeared in a little alleyway next to a small hut. She quickly brushed herself off while she composed herself. There was so much going on in her head and so much that had just occurred, she didn’t even know how to sort her thoughts. For one, Draco Malfoy, _of all people_ , was an Unspeakable.  The _Death Eater_ was one of the good guys. She didn’t know if she could trust him, or more to the point, she simply didn’t trust him in the slightest.

But she didn’t have a choice either. With their identities being revealed to one another they _had_ to work together. Hence the peace offering of pancakes.

“And look how well _that_ turned out Hermione.” She muttered to herself as she made her way to the grocery store in the small village. She certainly hadn’t expected company and was low on supplies.

She gently pushed open the door and smiled to the man standing at the cash register. He waved back, his teeth fairly bright and perfect.

“Hello Jean!”

“Hello there Akoni. How are you?”

“Just fine. You?”

She shrugged. “Splendid.”

“That’s lovely to hear. Looking for anything in particular?”

“No. Just some groceries.”

Akoni smiled at her and nodded before heading into the back to let her take a look around. She wasn’t looking for anything in particular, just something to tide them over for a while. She had a feeling that they’d be in hiding for a long time. Or at least until they learned more about what was going on.

She shivered then, feeling something watching her, their eyes penetrating to her soul. She slowly placed down the food she was grasping before giving a quick glance to her left and right. With the aisle clear she whipped around, her wand outstretched and pointed in the direction of the sense.

But nothing was there. Hermione quickly hid her wand in her purse. She had to be quick and get back to her home. Whatever was going on, wasn’t good.

…

Draco wandered around the house trying to think of something to do. He knew should do what Granger said but the blond didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of being right. So he moved through the house silently, taking it all in. There were picture frames scattered throughout the rooms, pictures of her and, what Draco assumed to be her parents, her and bloody potter and the weasel, and then other figures who he had no knowledge of. Friends from her muggle home, he decided.

The whole house had a bit of a cheery feeling to it, with several plants decorating windowsills and the sun shining brightly through the curtains. It really did look like something out of those resort commercials Draco often saw on the telly. The sea was a shimmering cyan as the blond’s eyes drifted to look outdoors. The sand sparkled in golden hues and Draco found himself moving to the porch to lean on the railing. He let his mind wander through the recent events, allowing questions to pop up due to the insanity of it all. Quite a few months ago he had been in a relationship only to collapse and be turned in a myth. Then he had been thrusted into a world of such physical extrusion and tension that he wondered, briefly, how the _hell_ he had survived it all. And then, to top it off, he was partnered with the supposedly deceased golden girl who is most _certainly_ alive.

Which brought him to his current predicament. He was working with (very much reluctantly on both their parts) with Hermione fucking Granger. She should be dead. Either a pile of ash or buried far beneath the surface of the earth. Not out and about, living on some remote tropical island with no one in sight for miles.

How the hell had she faked her own death? And why? Why would she do such a thing? Draco figured it had to somehow be connected to her calling. Why else would she say goodbye to every part of her life and, essentially, start over?

“Bloody hell Draco. You’re focusing on this too much.”  The blond ran his hands through his locks before turning to head back inside the house. Much to his chagrin, Granger was right. He needed to look at that body and see if he could find any traces of magic in it. They needed some sort of inkling as to what was going on.

He could worry about Granger later.

…

Hermione finally managed to get all the groceries she need. With a giant paper bag in each arm she made her way down the cobblestone road, passing townspeople wearing leis and grass skirts, greeting tourists and such. The brunette smiled at the friendliness of the locals before continuing on her way to the alley to apparate. As she walked though, she could feel her senses sharpening, warning her of a danger that lurked nearby. Hermione slowed her pace down, it had to be the same thing that she had felt in the store.

She took new paths to get to her destination, hoping to drop her tail. However, they kept right on track and no matter how hard Hermione tried, she could not lose them. They were far enough away that she couldn’t see them, but that goodness for being an Unspeakable meant that she could very well sense them.

A foul odour began to fill her nostrils and she focused on her inner core of magic to heighten her surroundings. Whatever it was was vulgar beyond all measure, and it made the brunette’s nose cringe. Her ears strained to her footsteps but only heard a few pebbles bounce off of stone away from the feet of her stalker. She refused to turn around, and acknowledge the presence, though she was sure they knew that she was aware of them. Nevertheless, she kept moving forward.

Hermione would arrive at the alley, and depart as quickly as possible. It would be simple.

Once she arrived at the alley that she had first appeared in, she pulled out her wand to apparate only to find that a bony hand had grasped her wrist, pulling her arm away from where her wand was hidden. She spun around only to gasp at the horridness of her captor.

Stringy hair and blank eyes stared at her, pure black and empty just as the ones before. She jammed her free hand into it’s face, causing the zombie like creature to stumble back, letting go of her wrist. She quickly grasped her wand, her groceries long forgotten, and pointed it directly at the monster before her. It groaned and reached for her again, much fasted than she anticipated and held onto her shoulder, it’s nails digging into her skin and dragging themselves down her arm. Hermione bit her lip in response, refusing to rise to the agony of the scratch and kicked the creature back down to the ground. There, she blasted it, watching the flames dance on it’s eerie skin till it was nothing but ash. She tenderly looked at her injury then, wincing as it flared in pain. She quickly waved her wand to repair the fallen groceries before apparating back to her home.

…

Draco made his way into the basement, turning on the faint light to illuminate the room where the body lay. However, once the light was on the blond’s eyes only grew wide.

The body no longer resembled itself when it was alive. In fact, it looked fairly similar to that of the zombie figures he and Granger had been battling back at the abandoned mill. The blond made his way closer to the form, before leaning over it, taking it all in.

It definitely looked dead. That was for certain. With tentative fingers, Draco peeled back the eyelid to check the eyes. He saw black until the arm reached out all too quickly and snatched his wrist.

“ _Shit!_ ” spoke the blond, his brow furrowing in worry. This was not good.

The eyes of the body fluttered open to reveal obsidian eyes with no trace of humanity in them. It bared its teeth, snarling at him like a wile animal. Draco whipped out his wand with his free hand and muttered an incantation. He watched as the eyes sewed themselves shut, hiding the bottomless pits from the world. Once done, the body collapsed, as if it had never been alive in the first place. Draco removed the hand from his wrist and placed it back beside the body. He crossed his arms, intently staring at the figure and trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.

“What the actual fuck?”

Draco waved his wand over the form, trying to get e reading on the state of the body. The tip of his wand began to glow green, which told him that the body was sick, or _had been_ anyway, before it became what it was now.

That caused the blond to furrow his brow once more before making his way over to the table that Granger had beside the slab of stone. He looked over her files that spread themselves out on the desk, each with notes scrawled all over the place.

As he scanned them though, nothing seemed to be relevant to a sickness of sorts. If anything, it claimed the opposite. Obviously, Granger had been working on this case with her last partner, before they went kaput.

But she clearly hadn’t found out anything remotely helpful. Draco dragged his eyes back to the pale and daunted skin. The cheeks were far hollow than before, making the bone structure of the skull stick out, almost as if it were about to pierce the flesh that held it in place. The eyes now had cords sewn through them to keep them shut while the fingernails were no longer black but yellow, indicating that his liver had failed him.

He looked sick and there were obviously more people like him which meant that maybe this was an epidemic. “Blood hell.” Whispered Draco into the air. That was it. Whatever this was, had to be an epidemic, some sort of disease that was affecting wizards and witches. But who or what, started it? And how the _hell_ were they supposed to stop it?

A crash then erupted from upstairs, causing Draco to glance up at the ceiling. His brow furrowed, because it had to be Granger who arrived as she was the only one who knew where the hell they were, but it made no sense as to why she’d stumble into her own home.

One sparing glance at the body told Draco he’d be fine to leave it for a while before he dashed up the stairs to see what Granger was up to. Upon arrival however, he became concerned and quite furious. The brunette’s strap to her clothing was torn, and a five long cuts went down her arm, dripping in blood. In fact, the whole body part was covered in the red rivers.

“Granger…what the hell?”

The blond moved to her side, quickly taking the groceries from her untouched arm, setting it on the counter before focusing all of his attention on the injury at hand. Granger was obviously trying to hold her pain in, but her lip was bleeding as well from the marks indicating that she was in a great deal of pain. Draco waved his wand over the injury, watching the blood stop flowing and the skin slowly heal itself back into place. However, the five lines went on her arm, and very prominent against her tan skin.

“Granger…what happened?”

“One of those things found me and attacked. It’s ash now, don’t worry.”

“Don’t worry? Granger you just bleed all over your carpet. I’m going to worry.”

Brown eyes met his and she seemed amused. “Aw Malfoy, caring for my well ebing?”

The blond rolled his eyes. “If this is how you’ll be thanking me I have no interest in helping you again.”

“Fine. Thank you.”

The blond gave her a stiff nod before helping her to her feet. Granger brushed the hair out of her face, before wincing as she moved her arm. “It kind of burns.”

“Sit down Granger. I’ll grab some balm for it.”

“Top cabinet to your left.”

Draco went to said cabinet and grabbed the desired object before sitting in the chair beside the brunette. He opened the jar and slathered some on his hand before reaching for Granger’s arm. She pulled back though, staring at him incredulously.

“ _What are you doing_?”

“Putting the balm on your arm.”

“I can do it myself Malfoy.”

“No you bloody well can’t you _dimwit_ because you almost just got _bloody murdered_ and your _bloody pride_ won’t let you get help from me. Granger, I don’t give _two shits_ if you can do it yourself. Knowing you, you’ll probably do a fine job until it starts _spazing_ at you so for Merlin’s sake, JUST. LET. ME. DO. IT.”

To that, Granger’s only response was to have her mouth open, jaw hanging and no coherent words spoken. For once, she was silent and Draco praised Hecate for it. Slowly, the brunette closed her mouth and the blond gave her a look, daring her to challenge him. She didn’t though, and once again, Draco found himself thank the gods for the Gryffindor’s silence.

He proceeded to rub the balm on the marks, gently massaging as he did so, so the pain wouldn’t be as great. Granger hissed every once in a while, which informed the pair that it must be working if she didn’t like the feeling. However, as the balm began to seep in, Draco found himself gently tracing the muscles of Granger’s forearm with his fingers. He didn’t know why, but for some reason, his body believed it to be the right thing to do. Maybe he could sense his partner’s distress and was subconsciously aiding her, or maybe he wanted to make up for his horrible years to her but whatever the case, he had no control over his actions.

Or at least, that’s what he told himself.

Her breathing slowed down and Granger watched his fingers, entranced with their movement. Neither one spoke, both unwillingly to end whatever camaraderie they had just established. But Draco knew the peace could not last, not now anyway, with a dead body being in the basement and an epidemic spreading itself through the world.

“Granger…it’s an epidemic.”

The brunette furrowed her brows, her gaze no longer peaceful but worried. “What do you mean?”

“I checked the body downstairs. It was sick, deathly so. Someone must have taken advantage of that and turned it into what it became.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s an _epidemic_ Malfoy.”

“Perhaps not. But notice how it went for your arm when it attacked you? It did the same thing with me too. It grabbed my wrist and began to reach for my arm. I don’t think it wanted it though. I think it wanted my neck, and yours too.”

“Malfoy…the body downstairs is dead.”

“No Granger. Just subdued. I went to open its eyes and that was when it attacked me. There’s more to this than simply zombies.”

“An epidemic _would_ explain the state of the bodies. But what disease could affect them that way? Because while zombies are favourable legends, the copious amounts of research done have indicated otherwise. There is simply _no way_ for a human to transform like that.”

“And yet, here they are.”

Granger sighed. “Indeed. We need to do more research but I don’t have the resources for it.”

Draco pause for a moment, his mind reeling with an idea. It could work.

“But I do.”

“Malfoy, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re _currently in hiding_. We can’t go back!”

“You are. I’m technically missing.”

“No _we are_. From our superior and I’m betting 2482 is looking for us, along with other Unspeakables no doubt.”

“But 2482 doesn’t know _who we are_.”

“Malfoy…2482 can easily find us!”

“No they can’t. Granger don’t you _see_? I’m a reformed death eater, not to mention plastered on practically every magazine. I’m the last person in the wizarding world to be suspected of being an Unspeakable. Plus, Malfoy Manor has thousands upon _thousands_ of charms on it to make it undetectable to _anything_. I can go back to London, use my resources to get you the information you need, we can meet in the manor and figure out what the hell is going on.”

“Malfoy…I don’t know…”

“Granger. We have _no other options_. We are very much stuck. We need to do something reckless and hope it pays off. Where’s that inner Gryffindor of yours? Where’s your inner lioness?”

That got a growl from the brunette to which Draco inwardly smirked. He had her now.

“Very well, Malfoy. We’ll do it your way. I just…I can’t be found out Malfoy.” Granger’s voice shrunk down to a faint whisper and Draco felt his own expression soften.

“You won’t Granger. I’ll make sure of it.”

…

Meanwhile, back at St. Mungo’s, Ginny stared at the tellies in front of her, watching them like a hawk. So far, all that she could see was that Malfoy’s body was in a coma, completely at ease. Staff fluttered in and out of the room, checking up on him but nothing out of the ordinary.

She watched closely as she went in, checking up on him. She watched as her body sighed before putting his chart back and leaving the room.

And then the video went static. Ginny’s eyes widened and she looked to Blaise whose expression matched her own. She drew her eyes back to the screen, and began pressing buttons, hoping for the video to come back. But nothing worked.

A ten minutes later however, the static dissipated, revealing an empty room and no trace of Malfoy anywhere.

Something big happened in those ten minutes. And Ginny was going to find out what.

…

 


	6. Where There's A Will, There's A Way

Chapter 6

Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way

_“One of the advantages of being disorganized is that one is always having surprising discoveries.”_

_― A.A. Milne_

“So, do you have everything?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re positive she won’t notice?”

“No.”

“Because well, if you do get caught-

“I’m not going to get caught.”

“But if you _do_ , you have to remember to say what we went over.”

“I am aware Granger. This’ll work.”

“I don’t like taking chances Malfoy.”

“Odd, for one of the Gryffindor traits is _recklessness_.”

“That isn’t one of our traits.”

“Meh. You say po _tate_ o I say po _tat_ o.”

“That isn’t a word!”

“Says you.”

“Says the _Oxford English Dictionary_! Know what. Nevermind. This’ll work.”

“I’ve only been saying that for the last hour. Just let me _go_ woman!”

Hermione glared at Malfoy before crossing her arms. “Fine. I’ll see you in a bit.”

The blond nodded before disapparting from the spot. Gone was his presence, luggage and personality. The brunette felt off for some reason after his departure, but refused to dwell on it. There were many things to be done before she met him so she had to focus on that. First, to get the body wrapped and sent to the basement of Malfoy Manor. Malfoy would send her a symbol, indicating it would be safe to send their only evidence to his old, childhood home. The blond didn’t live there anymore but even he knew the charms and wards placed on his condo wouldn’t hide them effectively from their superior.

So, Malfoy Manor it was. The brunette shuddered and forced herself to focus and not to let her mind drift to the incident that occurred there. That wouldn’t help, and she was past it. Most certainly past it.

“Body Hermione. Let’s get the body dealt with and then we can move onto step two.”

With a firm nod, the brunette moved towards the basement where the deceased awaited. She turned on the light, went down the steps and approached the body with caution. Since Malfoy stitched it up, it looked even more unappealing than before. “Poor Levi. How could this happen to you?”

Hermione waved her wand a mumbled an enchantment, watching as the bandage that laid on the table across the room floated towards Levi and wrapped themselves smoothly and efficiently around his form. From there she reached for the incense so she could mask his scent. After that came the hardest part. The waiting.

But she didn’t have to wait long it appeared for an image flashed in her mind of a cold, dark and wet, stone circle. Hermione let herself smile a little, so far so good, before grasping the hand of the deceased, gripping her wand tightly before apparating out of the basement. In a minute, she appeared in a stone room with the body laying on ground, crumpled.

“Bloody hell.” She rolled her eyes before levitating it up and placing it on the table that was in the center of the room. She adjusted it quickly, not interested in lingering any longer than necessary before apparating herself right out.

She appeared on her front porch and gave out a sigh of relief. The hardest part was over, and she hoped, she truly did, that the charm she placed on both her and Malfoy would keep them hidden from the mind link of the other Unspeakables. On her island, they couldn’t hear her thoughts nor could she hear theirs. But in Malfoy Manor, it was a possibility, despite Malfoy insisting it wasn’t.

But more importantly, outside of her safe haven, she had to be careful. Extremely so. She couldn’t risk jeopardizing all the work she’d put in when she left her old life and started anew.

She simply couldn’t.

“Please oh please let us not be caught.” She whispered to the wind, hoping it would carry her wish to whatever deities would be listening, if they even existed.

…

Once Draco arrived in his old home, he whipped out his wand, making sure no one heard him. He had spoken to the elves earlier (when Granger wasn’t looking) and informed them of his arrival, to be prepared and to not speak a word of his existence to his mother. She could not know he was alive, let alone in the manor breathing. It would ruin everything he and Granger had worked towards and _were_ working towards. Luckily, the elves agreed.

Upon his entrance, Whisky, the head elf, grabbed the luggage from him and disapparted off to the room Draco would be staying in. As Whisky disappeared, the blond exited the random hall he appeared in and made his way to the dungeons. He moved slowly through the halls, peering around corners with quick glances to make sure no one was there. Draco thanked the gods for being an Unspeakable, which gave him the ability to move around like a snake (Heh. He’s a Slytherin. Snake. Right. No, _focus_.). That was when he heard it. A whimper, nothing too extravagant that made him move into the direction of the sound. His eyes begun to turn silver (not that Draco had any idea) as he got closer to the noise. But soon, it disappeared. The blond looked around, freezing as soon as the whimpering stopped. He didn’t dare move. A pop was heard in the room next to him and the blond’s ears flickered, increasing the sound so he could hear.

“M’lady need a tissue?”

“Thank you, Nellie.”

Nellie. His mother’s personal house elf. That meant that it was his mum in the next room. The woman who he had not seen in a very long time. His heart panged with guilt for leaving her on her own, but he didn’t have a choice!

Then again, that’s what he said the last time he abandoned his true beliefs. A flash occurred through his mind, a memory of screaming on the Astronomy tower towards an old man, a mentor, who only had kindness in the form of a twinkle in his eye.

Draco clutched his head and held in a hiss for his mind had begun to ache on his body and he willed the memory to disappear so he could focus for himself and Granger.

_Granger._

That sobered him up and got him moving. He silently moved past the entrance to the room where his mother was, refusing to spend a moment more in her vicinity. The longer he dwelled, the greater chance he had of getting caught.

Plus, he wanted rid of the guilty feeling. With fast feet Draco was out of the hall swiftly and well on his way to the dungeons. He briefly would look at his surroundings, reminiscing about his time as a child here, the good and the bad, before moving on.

The doors to their dark basement appeared before him then and Draco opened them with great ease, making no noise as he slipped inside. He let out a breath of relief before continuing. _“Lumos.”_ He whispered in the darkness and grinned as light sprung forth from his wand. He used the light to lead him down the stairs towards the room where they’d be dumping the body. His mother never came down here, so he knew they’d be safe. He began to draw the symbol of the room in his mind before sending it to Granger. Now, he waited until she showed up with the body. Hopefully, by the time he arrived at the alchemy lab, she would be there waiting for him, body in tow.

And he prayed to Merlin that the charm she cast on them worked. The last thing they needed was being completely exposed. He shook the negative thoughts away. Now he was sounding like Granger and someone out of their pair needed to be optimistic. Strange, how the Slytherin was keeping a positive outlook of things while she panicked about the consequences.

 _Someone_ had their priorities mixed up. But nevertheless, Draco shrugged his shoulders before finally getting to the lab. “Bloody hell. How stiff are you?” he grumbled to the door which gave great difficulty in opening. Finally, the blasted thing went causing the blond to stumble in a bit. He shot up straight as a rod to defend his clumsiness to Granger until he realized she wasn’t there.

“Bloody hell Granger.” He saw the body, all wrapped up, ready to be opened, but no annoying brunette in sight. He rolled his eyes. “Coward. And that, for one, is most certainly not a Gryffindor trait. Bloody woman definitely has her priorities mixed.”

With that, Draco began to wave his wand and unwrap the body. Onto step two he supposed.

…

 

Hermione furiously packed her bags. She let out a sigh, running her hands through her mangled mane before resuming her task. Most of her luggage was full of papers, notes, books and ingredients needed for any sort of potions they’d be making. Malfoy had told her repeatedly they’d have more than enough of supplies but Hermione needed to be sure.

Absentmindedly she began to scratch the bandage wrapped around her arm from where the zombie like creature injured her. It was something she had begun to do when she was agitated. Mentally slapping herself for getting distracted, she did one last check of her home. Everything was gone, picture frames empty, furniture bare. It was an eerie sense of deja vu as she wiped away the memory of her in this place. Who knew when she’d be coming back here. Soon, hopefully. If everything went to plan.

Merlin, she prayed everything did. With one more resounding sigh, the symbol clear in her mind as to where to go, Hermione apparated herself out of her home and into a stranger’s fold.

A moment later, the brunette found herself back in the stone room she had deposited the body, with a moody Malfoy leaning against the door frame, his wand dangling from his hand, angrily tapping on his leg. Hermione swore she could see sparks shoot from the tip.

“Malfoy.”

“It’s about damn time Granger. I thought we agreed you’d come with the body. I didn’t realize you decided to no longer be a package deal.”

“Shut up Malfoy. I just…need to compartmentalize before diving off into the deep end. What we’re doing isn’t…I just needed a moment to myself. That’s all.”

Hermione looked earnestly at Malfoy, not caring if he believed her weak for just needing a moment of peace. She had it, and she missed it but she knew that there was no time to doddle on what she wished she could do. She had been a Gryffindor for goodness sake!

“I’m assuming you placed the body in your lab?”

She missed the look of amusement the blond shone her way as she went into business mode.

“Of course.”

“Excellent. Shall you show me my room so I can deposit my luggage? I’d rather not drag it around with me everywhere.”

“Very well. Follow me.”

Malfoy turned on his foot and left the doorframe into a torch lit hall. Hermione followed him, quickening her pace as to catch up with the man’s long legs. The brunette had never described herself as short but next to Malfoy she felt like a gnome. Nevertheless, she persisted, chasing after the giant.

“Do keep up Granger. You wouldn’t want to get lost in the Manor.”

Hermione growled at the smirk the blond shot back her way. She was about to bite back with a retort until Malfoy grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a dark alcove off to the side. His other hand was over her mouth, silencing her from speaking her mind. Hermione could feel his heartbeat against her back and feel the warmth from his body emanate onto hers. She became lost in the sensation that she didn’t even notice his hands letting go of her. Once she came to her senses, Hermione shook her head out of the remaining reverie before whipping around to face the blond.

“Malfoy.’ She hissed, pointing a finger directly in his chest. “What was that?”

“Blaise and mother.”

Hermione furrowed her brow, puzzled over the name. Why did it sound so familiar? Suddenly the brown eyes widened in recognition. “ _Zabini_?” she hissed, eyes narrowing onto the blond. “ _As in your best friend from Hogwarts Zabini_?”

“Yes.”

“How did you not take this into account?”

At this point, Malfoy had turned to face the witch, annoyance evident in his eyes. “For your information Granger, Blaise had disappeared during the war. He ran off to Italy with his mother. It wasn’t until he started working at my company that we even started talking again. As of why he’s here in the manor…I didn’t realize he and mother were so close.”

“Malfoy…this is going to be a problem.”

“Nonsense. We just need to figure out why he’s here.”

“ _Merlin,_ I hope it’s a social visit.” Hermione muttered, before moving into Malfoy’s personal space. She peered around the corner they were hiding in, ableing herself to see through the slightly open door to the pair inside. Zabini was sitting on a couch, a hand gently placed on the somber Narcissa Malfoy. It seemed he was comforting her but Hermione couldn’t hear any words.

“I can’t hear them.”

“Of course you can’t. Each room is charmed to keep conversations private unless you are in the room. Or at least, right beside it.”

“We need to get closer then.”

“Are you _insane_ Granger? They’ll spot us.”

“Malfoy, we’re _Unspeakables._ They won’t.”

She gave him an assured smile. His eyes seemed so earnest then, as if truly believing in her confidence. His looked back to the door before resigning himself to her. “Very well.”

The pair silently moved with ease to either side of the ajared door. Their ears flickered in unison to the voices inside, amplifying the sound. Hermione placed her ear gently on the wall to listen in.

“Narcissa, are you sure Draco hasn’t been here since his disappearance?”

“No, I’m afraid not. I’ve been checking the rooms regularly, the elves come and give me the reports. They haven’t seen or heard a word from him. Oh Blaise I’m terrified. What if something dreadful has happened to him?”

“Narcissa, I’m sure he’s fine. Drake’s resourceful. He’s a Slytherin.”

“Blaise, you wouldn’t be here if you weren’t scared for him. You don’t know if he’ll be fine and the circumstances behind his disappearance are concerning. No one just _vanishes_. He left and he had a reason to. You know him just as well as I. Draco doesn’t do anything on a whim. He is not Gryffindor.”

Hermione rolled her eyes at the insult before leaning back in. Her eyes darted over to Malfoy who shot her a smirk before returning to a look of worry. The brunette turned her attention back to the conversation.

“Blaise, the aurors are idiots. You need Harry Potter on this helping you.

“Narcissa surely not.”

“They will never assign a proper auror to handle Draco’s case. But if you use your power of influence you may be able to sway Mr. Potter into helping you.”

“Narcissa…”

“Listen to me. The Malfoy reputation has been dragged in the mud for a long time. It has been beaten repeatedly. My son worked hours upon hours to bring it to it’s old status but with a new reputation. He worked harder than I have ever seen him work and yet, the judgement still exists. It still tarnishes him everywhere he goes. Sometimes he believed what he did didn’t matter, because no one would change their mind. And then…there was Harry Potter. One lunch, that’s all it took when the Boy Who Lived gave my son an olive branch. Something happened to change his mind. I don’t know what, but it makes me believe that he is someone you can reach out to, to find my son. Please Blaise.”

“Alright. For you Narcissa. I’ll talk to Potter.”

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way Blaise. And I believe it can be found with Mr. Potter. Thank you.”

Hermione pulled back from the wall and gave Malfoy a concerned look. His face was stoic, with his eyes lingered on the people inside. She swore she could feel his heart beat in yearning. He loved his mother, of that she was sure. To be so close and yet not able to reach out, was devastating. Hermione knew the feeling all to well. Silently, she grasped his hand in hers and lead them back to the dark alcove before Zabini exited the room. Malfoy came willingly, as if in a trance. They slipped once more into the darkness, silver and gold eyes becoming brighter and brighter in the black. Zabini left the room, on his way to what the brunette assumed to be the floo. She could spot Narcissa’s elegant form stand up and walk to the cumbersome window to stare pensively out onto the lavish gardens.

Her eyes went to Malfoy’s again and this time he was looking at her. Something was in his gaze, that made her insides flutter. “Malfoy, she’ll be alright. She’s a Malfoy.” Hermione’s lips quirked up as she spoke. It seemed the blond was receptive to it as well. His hand squeezed hers before letting go. “Thank you.”

“Now, shall we go to my room?”

“Follow me.”

And she did.

…

Draco hadn’t originally planned to have Hermione share a room with him, but with the recent development of Blaise visiting his mother and apparently hunting him, he couldn’t risk her being exposed, especially if he planned on getting Potter involved.

Merlin what was his mother _thinking?_ Bringing the _pain in his arse_ into this? The blond dragged his hands down his face waiting for the brunette to exit his suite bathroom. Hecate knew how he’d survive the hunt. If Potter joined, they’d be screwed. The head auror on a case, especially concerning they’re weird acquaintanceship? Merlin, this was giving him a headache.

“Malfoy this room is massive! And the bathroom? It’s so Victorian in style! Is all of the manor like this?”

“Yes it is. Listen Granger…”

“How old is the bed? It looks like it came right out of a magazine! Oh! And colour! You know, I never would have imagined the bedrooms in Malfoy Manor to be so… _warm_.”

“Granger!”

Draco watched as the brunette pulled herself from her stupor of the room. “I was rambling, wasn’t I?”

“Just a tad.”

The blond saw her cheeks become delightfully rosy and he had to bite back a grin from escaping. “Right well, where will you be staying? In case I need you speak to you about something.”

“Ah yes, well, about that…”

“Malfoy…”

“Look, with Blaise showing up here and now Potter possibly joining the case, it’ll be safer if we stick together, so I’ll be staying here…with you.”

“WHAT?”

“Granger keep your voice down! Think about it rationally, my mother could walk in to any of the room’s. You wouldn’t know when she was coming and could be caught! If I stay with you I can hide you when need be. It isn’t the best of solutions but it’s all we’ve got.”

He could see her mind working as the thought mulled itself through her brain. “I suppose your option has validity. I just don’t like it.”

“You don’t have to. We’ll transfigure the bed into two if that’ll make it better for you.”

“It would.”

“Very well.” With a wave of his wand, Draco transformed the giant Victorian bed into two. “Can we get back to work? I’ve got a dead body in my alchemy lab that needs to be examined.”

Granger’s eyes lit up with vigour. “Let’s.”

Draco nodded and led the way back to the dungeons of the manor with the witch in tow. They moved quickly, as to not alert his mother to their presence. Soon they arrived into his potions lab. He could see Granger’s fascination with the room. She picked up various ingredients, examining the contents while also tracing her fingers over book covers. Draco meanwhile had gone straight to the body. He unwrapped the bandaging and dumped it in the garbage.

The body smelled oddly fragrant, causing his nose to crinkle. “Granger, do you put incense on this?”

“I did. As to not make it reek as we worked but also to make sure we remained illusioned. Could you imagine how much trouble we could get into by the stench alone? I doubt your elves would remain silent about that.”

The woman had a point.  But the blond made no move to agree with her. Instead, he drew his want straight down the torso making a nice, clean cut. “Malfoy let me. I worked with potions for a living. I know how to make a proper incision. I’ll ask for your help when I need it. For now, go and gather what we need to prepare the parts.”

As much as Draco wanted to argue with Granger, she had made another valid point. Draco was a business man while she was a potions master. It didn’t surprise him that she knew how to dismember a body.

Though when it came to this witch, very little surprised him.

He did as she asked, grabbing what they needed to analyze the parts. Spells could only work so far but a combination of both potion and spell would give them the information they needed about this rising epidemic.

They worked in silence with the Slytherin chopping ingredients, adding it to the copper cauldron while stirring slowly at certain intervals. The Gryffindor made slow incisions to open the body efficiently so she would be able to get to the organs.

All of the sudden, Draco’s head shot up with his eyes going molten silver.

“Malfoy what is it?”

“The wards. Someone’s trying to get in.”

Granger’s eyes went liquid gold as she began to sense the danger that radiated off of the blond. “We need to go check.”

The pair ran, abandoning their work to figure out who was trying to get in. Draco grabbed her wrist, pulling her through the halls of the manor to a hidden balcony that overlooked the entrance of the manor. The pair slowed down, entering the balcony with tentative steps. The peered over the edge, hidden from view and spotted cloaked figure on the doorstep. As if sensing them, the figure’s head flung towards their direction but the duo was to fast. They hid before the cloaked form could spot them.

They waited with baited breath for the figure to leave and after some time had passed, they no longer sensed the presence. Draco’s eyes went back to their grey as his heart calmed with the threat being gone.

‘That was close. See, this is why I have you and I staying in one room together.”

The brunette didn’t answer and Draco could see her mind flying, brewing something. “Granger?” he asked, prodding her to share her thoughts. She looked at him, eyes brightly shining their golden colour.

“Granger what is it?”

“It’s just like what your mother said. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. We certainly have the will, and I just found us a way.”

“Way out of what?”

“Our two little problems. We’re going to kill two birds with one stone. We’re going to deal with Harry, while also distracting our little cloaked friend.”

“And how are we going to do that?”

“You’re going to go back to work. Draco Malfoy will no longer have disappeared.”

…

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are greatly appreciated!


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